GAO: Where Are US Provided Weapons Going In Iraq?
But we haven't a clue where all the weapons are that we've already paid for and delivered. Yet the Pentagon wants carte blanche to buy more.
Just say no. As my mother might say, it looks like we'd be throwing good money after bad.
According to the GAO, the Pentagon and the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq (MNSTC-I) "cannot fully account for Iraqi forces’ receipt of U.S.-funded equipment." First, from June 2004 until December 2005, there was no centralized record-keeping of weapons bought and delivered. Period.
Then they started record-keeping. Sorta. MNSTC-I has not consistently "confirm[ed] when the equipment was received, the quantities of equipment [were] delivered, or the Iraqi units [received] the equipment."
Finally, even for the spotty records that they have kept, there is "a discrepancy of at least 190,000 weapons between data reported by the former MNSTC-I commander and the property books."
How many of these 190,000 weapons are in the hands of "insurgents"?
Oh, and the MNSTC-I was born in June 2004 specifically for the development, organization, training, equipping, and sustainment of Iraqi security forces.
What's the Pentagon's rationale for this mess?
DOD officials stated that, since the funding did not go through traditional security assistance programs, the DOD accountability requirements normally applicable to these programs — including the registration of small arms transferred to foreign governments — did not apply...
According to DOD officials, because Iraq train-and-equip program funding did not go through traditional security assistance programs, the equipment procured with these funds was not subject to DOD accountability regulations that normally apply in the case of these programs.
Read it and weep: DOD Cannot Ensure That U.S.-Funded Equipment Has Reached Iraqi Security Forces. pdf
Refresher: Why (And How) We Fight, Five Years After 9-11, By The Numbers, Pentagon Financials Continue to Raise Questions.